Coming from an XP and Vista scenario, running Vista and XP MCE at home, and supporting hundreds of 2000 and XP clients at work, here's my top 5.
1 -
Vista. Just when XP was stable enough for most users, and the hardware had enough grunt to run it at a decent speed, we had Vista dropped on us. Now, a home computer which would have been enough to power a nuclear power station not that long ago can barely run Microsoft's new O/S.
2 -
"Start" - everything "Starts Here". No matter where my mouse is, no matter what I want to run, I have to head back to the bottom left hand corner of the screen (a pain with high-res widescreen) trawl through the start menu hunting down my application like I'm looking for a number in the telephone book.
3 -
Loading times. When I press the power button, I want to be able to use my computer at that moment. A bit like when you switch on the TV, or turn the key to your car. I don't want to be left feeling like I've just asked the shop assistant for something not on the shelves, waiting patiently, albeit a little stressed because I could be doing something better with my time.
4 -
Stability. I'm running lots of apps over multiple desktops in my Windows environment, yet it feels like I'm balancing on a tightrope juggling angry badgers. On my MacBook 2.2 with 4Gb of RAM, same or similar apps, multi desktops, it just gets on with it, and lets me get on with doing what I set out to do.
5 -
Work Mode. As "Group ICT Manager" I use Windows and Microsoft Office suite all day long. I'm used to it's quirks, I'm used to treating it like someone who has just come out of intensive care, small steps, speaking slowly, and like my suit, I'm used to it
at work. When I get home, the last thing I want to see is the same set of icons and problems that I face while at work.
OSX for me is like the 7 year itch, only it took 2 decades. It's like I've ditched my old nagging, too-familiar, unfriendly, forced-me-to-change partner, and run off with a younger, better-looking super model who knows how to have fun.
Bring on the good times.